1. Field of the Invention
The Present Invention relates, generally, to an optical connector, and, more particularly, to an optical connector having an increased degree of freedom in the connecting operation.
2. Description of the Related Art
In an electronic device or apparatus, such as a personal computer, a cellular phone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a digital camera, a video camera, a music player, a game machine or a car navigation device, in order to realize both a decrease in the overall size of a casing and an increase in the size of a display screen, the casing is typically configured to be collapsible. In such a case, a flexible printed circuit and conductive wires are arranged so as to pass through an inside of a hinge portion that allows one casing to be pivotably connected with the other casing so that signals can be transmitted through parallel transmission.
Although the signal transmission speed may be increased in response to an increase in image resolution, since there is a limit in increasing the inside dimension of the hinge portion, it is practically impossible to arrange a conductive wire having a large width or diameter. In addition, when a countermeasure against electro magnetic interference (EMI) is taken, the conductive wire will become larger in the width or diameter thereof.
In this regard, a method of optical transmission capable of transmitting a large amount of signals through serial transmission and is an excellent EMI countermeasure, such as that described in Japanese Patent Application No. 11-84174, is referenced in FIG. 9. As illustrated in FIG. 9, optical element portion 870 is configured to receive an optical module, including a light emitting element and a light receiving element, and coupled to connector housing 811 by means of coupling member 841. Connector housing 811 is provided with groove-shaped guide portion 814, configured to allow a non-illustrated plug connected to a front end of a non-illustrated optical fiber to be inserted therein, and engagement wall portion 818, configured to be engaged with a front end of the plug. In addition, guide projections 831, formed on a wall surface of engagement wall portion 818, are engaged with a pair of engagement holes formed in the plug, so that the plug is placed in position after insertion thereof.
The optical connector is provided with clamping member 821, rotatably attached to the connector housing 811. A front end of clamping member 821 is rotatably mounted on rotation shaft 813, configured to project from a side surface of engagement wall portion 818. Clamping member 821 is provided with elongated plate-like arm parts 822, configured to extend rearward from the front end of clamping member 821. Moreover, latching portions 827 are connected to rear ends of arm parts 822 so as to be engaged with the rear end of the plug, and operation portion 825 is connected to the rear ends of latching portions 827.
When the plug is connected to the optical connector, the clamping member 821 is rotated from an attitude shown in the drawing figure of FIG. 9 to raise the operation portion 825, so that an upper surface of the guide portion 814 is open. Subsequently, the plug is inserted into the guide portion 814 from a rear side thereof, so that a front end surface of the plug comes into tight contact with the wall surface of engagement wall portion 818. In this case, the positioning of the plug is carried out by tightly fitting the guide projections 831 to be engaged with the engagement holes of the plug. Finally, when the clamping member 821 is rotated to lower the operation portion 825, the optical connector returns to assume the attitude shown in the drawing figure of FIG. 9. Owing to this configuration, the latching portions 827 are engaged with the rear end of the plug, and the plug is locked in a state of being connected to the optical connector.
However, according to the conventional optical connector, since the positioning of the plug is carried out by tightly fitting the guide projections 831 to be engaged with the engagement holes of the plug, it may be difficult for an operator to perform a connecting operation. Usually, when a plug connected to an optical fiber is connected to an optical connector, the guide projections 831 and the engagement holes are designed to have an extremely small dimensional tolerance since the positioning of a plug-side optical path relative to an optical connector-side optical path requires an extremely high degree of precision. For this reason, an operation of an operator moving the plug to cause the guide projections 831 to be inserted into the engagement holes requires a high degree of accuracy and is thus difficult to perform.
Moreover, when an unnecessarily large force is applied to the guide portion, the guide projections 831 might be broken. In recent years, with the advance in the miniaturization of the optical connector, the guide projections 831 have become miniaturized. For this reason, when an operator changes the attitude or the direction of the plug with the operator, for example, when the guide projections 831 are being engaged with the engagement holes of the plug, the guide projections 831 might be broken by a force applied by the operator.
Moreover, since a direction where the plug is moved relative to the optical connector is limited to only one direction, a degree of freedom in the connecting operation is low. In addition, since the guide projections 831 are configured to extend rearward, it is necessary to insert the plug into the guide portion 814 from a rear side thereof in order to cause the guide projections 831 to be engaged with the engagement holes of the plug. For this reason, for example, in a case where other components such as an electronic component, e.g., an IC, are mounted on the rear side of the optical connector mounted in a small electronic device, for example, it might be extremely difficult for an operator to insert the plug into the guide portion 814 from the rear side.